Kansas City Kansas Community College

Kansas City Kansas Community College (KCKCC) is a public two-year college in Wyandotte County, Kansas. Founded in 1923 as a junior college inside the Kansas City, Kansas public schools, it opened with 56 students in two segregated divisions — a Central division for white students at Wyandotte High School and a Sumner division for Black students at Sumner High School. The divisions were integrated in 1951. The present main campus, at 72nd Street and State Avenue, opened in 1972. Fall 2023 enrollment was 4,807. Mascot: Blue Devils.¹²

Overview

Founded	1923 (as a junior college of the KCK public schools)12
Accreditation	Higher Learning Commission; Kansas Board of Regents1
Enrollment	4,807 (Fall 2023, KBOR preliminary)1
Main campus	72nd and State Avenue, Kansas City, KS (opened 1972)12
Other sites	Technical Education Center (TEC) at 65th and State; Pioneer Career Center, Leavenworth (from 2015)1
Athletics	NJCAA / Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference; Blue Devils1
Website	https://www.kckcc.edu/

History

Superintendent M. E. Pearson founded the college in 1923. The first faculty were high-school instructors; the first class numbered 56. For nearly three decades the college ran as two racially segregated divisions, one at wyandotte-high-school and one at sumner-high-school. In 1951 Superintendent F. L. Schlagle integrated the divisions, citing low enrollment during the Korean War. The same year the college received its first North Central Association accreditation.¹²

In 1965 the college joined the Kansas statewide community-junior-college system. An independent Board of Trustees followed in 1967, and the college district expanded to all of Wyandotte County. A 1968 bond issue funded a West Campus at 72nd and State Avenue, opened 1972 to relieve downtown overcrowding; the downtown site closed in 1973 and the west campus became the main campus. A nursing program was added in 1970.¹²

In 2008 the college absorbed the Kansas City, Kansas Area Vocational Technical School as the KCKCC Technical Education Center. The TEC moved in 2013 into a former Walmart at 65th and State Avenue. The Leavenworth campus became the Pioneer Career Center in 2015. In 2022 the college opened Centennial Hall, its first on-campus residence hall.¹²

Athletics

KCKCC competes in the NJCAA and the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. The women’s basketball team won the NJCAA Division II national championship in 2016 and 2019.¹

Notable alumni

Wikipedia’s alumni list includes Kansas Court of Appeals judge David E. Bruns; Kansas representatives Tom Burroughs, Cindy Neighbor, Melissa Oropeza, and Valdenia Winn; former NFL player Quincy Morgan; former MLB players David Segui and Kevin Young; and engineer Irene C. Peden, described there as the first American woman engineer or scientist to conduct research in the Antarctic.¹

Sources

See also

• wyandotte-high-school
• sumner-high-school
• kansas-city-kansas
• wyandotte-county
• Wiki

Footnotes

1. Wikipedia — “Kansas City Kansas Community College.” — asserts: public two-year college in Wyandotte County; HLC and KBOR accreditation; Fall 2023 enrollment 4,807; founded 1923 by Supt. M. E. Pearson; segregated Central (Wyandotte HS) and Sumner divisions, 56 students; integrated 1951 by F. L. Schlagle; first NCA accreditation 1951; statewide system 1965; independent board 1967; 1968 bond; West Campus 1972, downtown closed 1973; nursing 1970; TEC 2008 / 65th & State 2013; Pioneer Career Center 2015; Centennial Hall 2022; NJCAA/KJCCC Blue Devils; women’s basketball DII titles 2016 and 2019; alumni as named. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

2. Kansas City Kansas Community College — “History Timeline.” — first-party timeline cited by Wikipedia for the 1923–2022 institutional sequence above. Confirm individual dates against that page before elevating any figure not also in the Wikipedia article. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶